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A-Bar is supposed to be a great place to get cheap food in Kyoto.
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Ponto Cho is a long canal street in Kyoto with bars and restaurants. Somewhat seedy sounding, but worth checking out.
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Heather Asaadi from flickr.com
mairead YES.
named as the best Onsen in Kyoto. May be worth going to while we are there!
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Heather Asaadi from flickr.com
mairead great call!
"There are numerous arcades in Tokyo filled with UFO catcher, popular video and gambling games. These complexes are sometimes five or six stories high and are interesting to walk though even if you don't play any games. There are several in Shinjuku and Shibuya."
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mairead from japan-talk.com
"Muji is a popular chain of Japanese stores that carry clothing and home furnishings. Muji is known for its plain, simple, functional designs."
"100 yen shops (Japanese: hyaku en shop) sell a wide range of products for 105 yen per item (100 yen plus 5 percent consumption tax). This corresponds to roughly one US dollar per item, making the shops a great source for travelers and residents on a budget."
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mairead from japan-guide.com
"Tokyu Hands, a department store chain that started out as a crafts store in 1976. Today it carries just about everything: stationery, electronics, toys, kitchen supplies, cleaning products and cosmetics, packaged in that perfectly streamlined Japanese way that makes you want one of everything." (click through for more info)
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"Take a stroll around the outside of the Imperial Place home of the Emperor of Japan. The palace is located in Kudanshita and is closed to the public."
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mairead from japan-talk.com
Purikura! "Purikura are sticker photo machines seen all over Japan. It is fun to give this a try. Everyone looks much better in Purikura photos; it's magic."
mairead from puricute.com
um sham and jonathan? "Electronics Shopping in Akihabara Akihabara is paradise for nerds, it is the best place in Tokyo to find the latest electronics, Japanese manga related stuff and maid cafes."
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mairead from japan-talk.com
"Sakura Tei is a hide-away for an okonomiyaki and monjayaki restaurant in the back streets of Harajuku. Generally you cook your own food at your table. Many Japanese celebrities visit this restaurant, and it's rather famous. Interesting works of art cover the walls of the first floor, and the atmosphere is very indie. The second floor is calmer in tone, and can be reserved for private parties. Aside from the normal okonomi/monja selections, you can find items such as the dessert monja "banayan" and the green-onion filled "negi-yaki," as well as creative side-dishes on the menu. There is enough to explore that you'll have to come again and again. The all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink courses are also very popular." (click through for more info.)
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mairead from sakuratei.co.jp
really great city basics for us to know. updated since spring 2011. nb cell phones and tipping. sham and i over-tipped the ENTIRE time we were in paris... viva america! (click through for more info.)
COFFEE SPA. (also check out the others: wine, green tea, and sake!) "A very unique spa where you can only experience at Yunessun! The spa contains real coffee made with hot spring water. It has been said that coffee is an effective treatment from the recovery of fatigue, and also adds beauty to the skin. The aroma of the coffee will also perk up your senses." (click through for more info.)
mairead from yunessun.com
"Kappabashi Street (かっぱ橋道具街, Kappabashi Dōgugai) is a shopping street between Ueno and Asakusa, which is lined with several dozens of stores selling everything needed by restaurant operators, with the exception of fresh food. You will find specialized stores for dishes, pots, pans, cooking utensils, stoves, tables, chairs, signs, lanterns and more. There are also a few stores which sell plastic and wax food samples, used by many restaurants in their show windows." (click through for more info.) CUP BALCONIES. craziness.
by k_kimhuey
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Heather Asaadi ummm, did you see the ladder part of the post where they RENTED A DOG?! I WANTS TO DO THAT!!!!
mairead hahahah i knew you'd notice the dog! YES.
"Oriental Bazaar, a tourist magnet on Omotesando Street, offers a much bigger selection of yukata (along with all sorts of other souvenirs) and robes there go for $10 to $15 less than Daimaru's, but the place can get mobbed on weekends. After braving the basement, which has kitsch galore, head upstairs to the much quieter second floor for a look at the vintage and antique items, including classic woodblock prints from the ukiyo-e masters. The store is closed Thursdays." (click through for more info.) another good stop for shopping day?
KARAOKE. not sure any more words are needed, but just in case: "But at Smash Hits, located at the west end of the Hiroo shotengai (neighborhood shopping street), you perform on stage before a random, rowdy audience. There's a thick catalog of English songs to choose from, and emcee Saito-san is known to shuffle the order in favor of newcomers, so you won't have to wait long to make your evening debut. Cheer the salarymen taking turns at the mic — many are practiced regulars who favor Billy Joel, Guns 'N Roses and Queen — and they'll show you love in return." (click through for more info.)
"When the lights turn red at this busy junction, they all turn red at the same time in every direction. Traffic stops completely and pedestrians surge into the intersection from all sides, like marbles spilling out of a box. You can observe this moment of organized chaos from the second-story window of the Starbucks in the Tsutaya building on the crossing's north side." (click through for more info.) obvi a must?
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"If Yoyogi Park is the most entertaining green space in Tokyo, the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is the most beautiful. Ask for a map in English ("Ay-go mappoo?") as you walk in so you can be sure to hit all the major gardens: English Landscape, French Formal, Japanese Traditional (with teahouse) and the curiously named Mother and Child Forest (Haha to Ko no Mori). There's also a lovely Taiwan Pavilion; go inside and look out the second-story windows." (click through for more info.)
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"Yoyogi Park in Shibuya-ku is the perfect comic relief after a low-key shrine stop. With living space so tight in this city, parks are the places for club meetings and practice sessions and even play rehearsals, and Yoyogi draws all sorts of talent, from horn players to hip-hop dancers to rockabilly gangs, complete with poodle skirts and Elvis-inspired pompadours, who usually gather by the park's east side entrance on Sundays to jam to American pop music from the '50s. Somehow this scene is more satisfying than the Gothic Lolitas and Cosplay kids, costumed fans of Japanese manga and anime characters hanging out on the Harajuku bridge, but I always take my friends to see them too." (click through for more info.) um, SOLD?
there is no sumo tournament in june (may and july, yes), but maybe we can still get a tour of the training and practice? i read somewhere that it's even more interesting. we'd have to get up really early for it, but just an idea! (click through for a list of 10 Things to Do in tokyo--i might be pinning some more for us!)
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This is hilarious! Noodle baths based on the ingredients of Ramen Soup. Jonathan would be in love.
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Heather Asaadi also, it is offered in Hakone, which is where the other hot springs are.
mairead OMG!!!! BEST FIND EVER!!! YES.
SAKURA HOTEL IKEBUKURO: "12,800 yen / 4 bed room -- Budget rooms with shared bathroom and shared kitchen. Amenities - shared bathroom, shared kitchen, air conditioner. For budget room guests, free WIFI is provided at our lobby." (click through for more info.) this is where we had planned on staying in tokyo. great location and rates. thought the shared kitchen would be fun and we could cook some of our own meals with crazy stuff we find in stores? if you find something else, though!!
CAT CAFE!!!!! enough said, i think? this will obviously occur.
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one day will be a shopping day and i think we will all be totally 100% fine with that fact for once! re: sunshine city, where we should CLEARLY go: "Sunshine City is a huge 60 floor skyscraper (Tokyo’s tallest at the time it was built) with an observatory on the top floor, plus an aquarium, a planetarium, an Egyptian museum, a food theme park, a hotel and, of course, a shopping mall. The observatory is reached via a special lift with glow in the dark effects and a speedometer, which is quite amusing." (click through for more info!) p.s. THESE ARE TOFU!
from Flickr
i'm a dork and really want to go to this museum that will have totoro and lots of other adorable characters from studio ghibli movies, e.g. spirited away. if you have not seen these films, i will get them from the library for y'all! (for more info: www.ghibli-museum... )
by Eoghan Lynch
mairead from flickr.com
i'm not sure how y'all feel about this, so you can be honest, but one of sham's life goals is to go to every disneyland/world on the planet, so this is going to have to happen for us. if you have strong feelings, we can separate for a day and y'all can do something cultural! =o)
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"Hakone Kowakien Yunessun is a hot springs spa resort and water amusement park located in the spectacular scenic surroundings of Hakone, Japan. We have a unique blend of traditional Japanese onsen (hot springs) and water recreation services and activities. Hakone is considered the most popular Onsen (Hot Springs) resort areas in Japan, and Yunessun takes full advantage of the abundance of high quality hot springs in Hakone." (click through for more info)
mairead from yunessun.com
this is the place in hakone, famous for its hot springs (HEATHER!), that i had booked for us, mainly because of its location, outdoor vistas, and price. (click through for more info--going to need to use google translator!)
mairead from charlotte2.yad.jp
(click through for more details.) n.b. BAMBOO FOREST! the tours look great, but we could just rent our own bikes from them, and save the higher-priced led tour for tokyo?
Now that I know of them, all I ask is that we go to a hot springs.
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mairead fantastic photo! let's hunt down one like this. if we have extra time in hakone after finding an onsen, we could treat the boys to a onsen water park adventure! http://pinterest.com/pin/12...
"Tokyo Great Cycling Tour (TGCT) is one day cycling tour visiting major sightseeing spots in Tokyo (see course details page)." (click through for three routes details!)
mairead from tokyocycling.jp
fantastic map of OGAWAYAMA bouldering. with ryokan! and rental crash pads! YEE. (click through for article with more details about bouldering, getting there, etc.)
mairead from ukclimbing.com
T-WALL -- bouldering gym in tokyo. (click through for article with more details.)
"The mecca of al-fresco bouldering for Tokyoites is Mitake, two hours from central Tokyo by train. Its best-known boulder, Ninja Rock, is a prime gathering spot for climbers who try to negotiate its natural crags." yeah, i'm thinking this is going to be a must see, if we can! (click through for great article about bouldering in tokyo.)
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$15.00
mairead awesome!